From the coach: Mar 10th, 2020
by Craig Medaglia @craigmedaglia / Ottawa Senators
Following yesterday's practice in Anaheim, Sens head coach D.J. Smith met with the media to talk building off of their win against the Sharks, Hogberg and Wolanin's returns to the team and more before facing the Ducks tonight at 10 p.m.
His thoughts on yesterday's practice in Anaheim:
It was a great off day for the boys (on Sunday) so it's good to be back skating before this back-to-back.
On having Marcus Hogberg rejoin the team on the ice yesterday:
It was great for him to be able to get home and see his family but he'll be back and looking to continue what he has been doing lately.
His plan for his goalies during this back-to-back with the Ducks and Kings:
We'll make that decision and decide what we're going to do for these next two games. Craig (Anderson) has certainly been going good but we want to get Hogberg back in as soon as possible.
On Christian Wolanin's return on Saturday night after missing so much time with a shoulder injury suffered before training camp:
He was very good. He moved pucks and we had the puck a lot more. We had a real good puck mover on the left side with every unit so I was really happy with his performance.
On Wolanin's play after missing so much time this season:
That was what I expected. We kind of had him penciled in to start the year but he got hurt and that's unfortunate but that's what I saw in the video. It's the defensive side of the game that we'll continue to work on but "puck movement"-wise, he was great.
Video: March 9 | Christian Wolanin
What he's looking for out of his team after Saturday's win in San Jose:
We're going to continue to work. We want to be able to break the puck out, we want to play a 5-man game and I think we've been doing that.
His thoughts on some of the non-playoffs putting together some winning streaks at the end of the season:
A lot of teams have young guys in this time of year that are flying around and doing everything they can to be in the NHL next year. It's not like you have a team that's not trying against a team that's trying. Everyone's still trying.